


Amidst the Chaos

by JugdralDefender



Category: Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu | Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2016-10-16
Packaged: 2018-08-22 17:40:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8294491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JugdralDefender/pseuds/JugdralDefender
Summary: Fin finally reunited with his children so unexpectedly, and he plans to do everything in his absolute best power to keep his family together now. When he realizes what's going on between the four of those children, he vows to never let what happened to himself and Tiltyu come between any of them. He may have lost his wife, but nobody will take his children away from him again. And he is sure of it as he watches over them: the four of them will be tied as family for the rest of their lives.





	

Arthur did not expect this. To find Tinny here, finally, was a blessing itself. However, just after her arrived the trio that the army Arthur was now a part of had been intending to rescue. The prince, the mage could gather, and there was a young girl present as well… but the man’s voice shut those thoughts out.

“ _...Arthur?_ ” His eyes slowly looked over at the female mage now at Arthur’s side, the two holding hands desperately at their reunion. “ _Tinny?_ ”

After a moment of shocked silence at the man familiarly speaking their names, the Freege male found his voice. “...I… ... _Father?_ ”

-

As soon as things settled down and tents were pitched, the once separated family had hushed themselves away in Fin’s tent. The entire time the tents were being raised, both Leaf and Nanna could see how anxious the three of them looked. They had thought it best to leave them all be, but Fin insisted they stay.

“You’re… really my father, huh… I had heard stories about you, and was told about your position and what you looked like… I had always wanted to meet my heroic father. I was told you went back to Lenster, intending to come back, but…” Arthur was doing his best to stare straight ahead, right at his father. No tears today. Why should he cry? He should figure things out and smile. They were why he was out here.

“I’m sorry… I had gone back with my Lord Cuan to Lenster, but things between Lenster and Thracia were getting worse before he headed off to rejoin Lord Sigurd. Someone he trusted had to stay and keep watching over things. ...But even that, I failed to do. Not only could I not return to my wife and children, but I lost my Lord’s home…”

“Mother used to hold back her tears talking about you, Father… She really loved you. I just… you know… wish she was here with us to see you again. Tinny said she died, so…”

Even before Arthur could, Fin gulped to hold back evident pain. “Tinny… I had heard of Blume’s niece helping out the villages… I also heard from the villagers that they often spotted you with bruises and other injuries. You would smile and brush it all off, but there were times people would accidentally bump into you and you would flinch. You… were being abused there, weren’t you?”

She nodded softly after waiting a moment. This was her father, and he deserved to know the truth. She could see instantly the way he hid the hatred in only his eyes for the people behind her abuse. Her brother as well looked angry at the idea of it all, causing her to finally step in to break that tension. “But I had my cousin to look after me! She always helped me when it hurt… She sometimes would even… reassure me that my father was still alive, and I would get to meet him someday and… be free of all the pain…”

Fin visibly flinched now, but she had no time to see tears in his eyes before she was in his arms. “I’m sorry… I never even had the chance to meet you before now. Arthur wasn’t even a year old before I had to head home… and your mother was pregnant with you. I should have gone back to find you all, and yet I…”

“Weren’t you running away from Thracia and Blume’s forces?” Arthur’s voice made Fin pause, and slowly he pulled away from his daughter to look at his son. “Besides, Mother went back to Silesia because it was safest there. Then the Empire took control of that country too. Father… You would have been in danger no matter where you went.”

“You had Lord Leaf and Lady Nanna to look after too.” Tinny added with a nod. “We would have held you down. You’re a wonderful, strong man… and I’m proud of you for what you are… but you couldn’t have handled protecting four small children all by yourself. If one of us died, wouldn’t you hate yourself? Mother is gone, abused by my uncle’s wife to her death. I want you to be strong, Father… so that one day, you can avenge her with us.”

The two of them had grown so strong when he couldn’t be around, and he wasn’t sure what to say about it. It was wonderful how brave each of these children were, but his very own kids… It was as if they had grown up in Lenster as proud knights.

“Still… Tinny… You were close to me for so long and I had no idea. It was only recently I heard you were even still alive. You were that close, and there was nothing I could do for you… Arthur was all alone if both you and Tiltyu were here. I’ve failed as both a father and a knight of Lenster. I couldn’t even stop Lady Lachesis from trying to find her son, and who knows what’s happened to her now… I’ve failed my friends as well...”

“Then now is the time to stop failing if you think that, Father!” Arthur insisted, pulling the man’s hands into his own as he had done for his sister upon meeting with her and confirming her identity. “Your kids are alive… You’ve protected your prince… Lady Lachesis left and you were able to protect her daughter… Both of them look healthy… Everything was out of your control and you still beat the odds! I don’t think anything can stop you, Father. Head up! I thought Tinny was all I had left for family in this world, then suddenly Oifaye said a knight named Fin was protecting the prince we were all supposed to go help. I knew it was you… Mother always talked about you at night before I went to bed. I was so happy right then… I was so close to finding my sister, and my father was right nearby… You were forced away from us and I’m going to force them all to let you back!”

If only he could have helped raise this child… As much as he regretted losing Cuan, as much as he regretted losing his wife, he regretted not being there to raise these two when they needed him like they needed no other.

Pulling him into a hug, he nodded against the boy. “I have no idea how you became so strong… but I’m glad to say you’re my son. I’m glad to say Tinny is my daughter.” Once he’d pulled back, he looked from his son to his daughter, to Leaf to Nanna and back to Arthur. “I will never let anything split the three of us apart again, and nothing will ever split Lord Leaf and Nanna from me. Nobody will ever take any of you away. I won’t die to protect you all. I will live to protect you all. I can’t protect you in the future if I simply die to protect any of you once.”

“You’ll be able to… You’ve protected us this long.” Leaf knew how bad the knight’s self esteem was and how awfully it had plunged after everything that happened. It could only get better, and it would get better. There would be a way to make Fin smile again someday, and he would find out how. “I don’t know anyone stronger than you, Fin. Anyone who went through so much hell and not only survived, but has done everything he’s said he would do. That’s how I know we’ll beat Trabant… You said we were going to do it someday, and that means we will.”

“We have to kill Hilda too.” Tinny had to hold back a hiss in her tone, though she only barely managed to do so. “She made Mother suffer, and the last things I ever saw of her were terrible. She would cry all alone so many nights, and pretend to be strong when she was with me. She would tell me one day, my father would return, and Hilda would never get away with it. I wish she was still here to see it… but we’re going to avenge Mother! We’ll kill Trabant too… for putting you through all this suffering, Father! I won’t let them hurt my family anymore. I’ll miss Ishtar… I really will… but Hilda and Trabant are unforgivable!”

“And I lost my mother along the way…” Nanna looked down for a moment, recalling how awful she had been to Fin about it for so long. As a small child, she had nagged him and nagged him, almost certainly furthering to hurt him more.

Looking back on it, it was a surprise he still did everything in his power to protect her. He could have just dropped her off in some orphanage and have been on his way… She wasn’t even his own child, yet he treated her exactly like she was. How pathetic she had been! Seeing Tinny like this, she was almost jealous. Years and years longer she had known the girl’s father, was even treated like the man’s own daughter, and Fin and Tinny had been so much more like parent and child having only just met on this day. What a strong girl Tinny was… “I don’t want to lose anything else. I’m not worthy of Fin’s protection the way you all are, but he’s given it to me without second thoughts. I want to repay that… and I’m going to help protect his children with my magic. I’ll always heal your wounds… so Arthur, Tinny… whenever you’re in any kind of pain, physical… or even emotional… please tell me. The two of you don’t deserve to suffer more than you have, and you didn’t deserve it to begin with.”

“Thank you, Nanna.” Tinny finally smiled, and Arthur felt so much more blessed in that moment. This was really… the little sister he’d been searching for. Her smile was so much like their mother’s. “Someday… I’d like you to teach me to use a staff. Lord Leaf, I’d like you to teach me to fight with a sword… if it’s not too much to ask. I know you must be busy with your position… I… I need to get stronger and be more useful. I’ll never avenge the family I had taken from me if I’m weak forever.”

Leaf smiled, resting a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll help you. I was weak before too… and I still am. Right now, I’d never defeat Trabant and avenge my family either. If you can help teach me thunder magic, and maybe even help me get over my fear of thunder… then we can get strong together.” Turning to Arthur, he continued. “Arthur, if you want to learn to use a sword too, I can help you too. Fin’s taught me to use a lance, and in a way maybe I can repay him by teaching his own kids to use a sword. I don’t think I’ve ever been particularly useful… and I’ve really just been in the way and needed protecting all my life. I think with you two around… I won’t have to be like that anymore.”

“We’ll all be worthy of being the most heroic knight of Lenster’s children… and Delmud is my brother!” Nanna’s voice finally showed light excitement, and it was a strange feeling in her heart right now. “Since I’m kind of like Fin’s adoptive daughter, Delmud is kind of his adoptive son. I even heard our cousin Aless is in this army now. We can all be a big family… Fin will never have to be alone ever again.”

Arthur smiled at her in approval of the idea. His family was always what he was looking for… and this was it.

-

“So… Arthur…” With the day finally coming to a close, Nanna sat beside the mage. “I know Lord Leaf plans to help you with using a sword, but do you think I could too?”

Arthur looked at her curiously. “Sure. I mean… why not?”

“Well… like your sister and Lord Leaf said… I don’t want to feel useless. In fact, I guess out of all of us, you’re the one who has worked the hardest. You had to live all alone, and yet you trained and trained to be able to go out one day to find your family. All I did was complain about my missing mother… I must have made Fin feel so awful, and he already always felt awful. I just want to go back and erase it all… but of course, I can’t. I don’t think this will make up for it, but I want to help you too. You’ve been such a respectful man like your father. I count myself lucky to have been in the care of your father.”

Laughing softly, Arthur shook his head a bit. “Don’t worry. You were really young when she left, right? I don’t think a girl who loved her mother so much would know any better. You regret it now, and you’ve been proper and polite about everything. You look strong, you know? Like… I think if it came down to it, you could beat our enemies even by yourself. And emotionally, well… you guys have been running all your lives, right? A young lady having to live that kind of life… I think you’re a lot more powerful on the inside than you want to believe because you think you’ve wronged the man who kept you alive all this time.”  


Looking down at her lap, the Nodion princess smiled lightly. “I hope I am… I found out my father was a nobody, and as your father said, ‘just like he is’. I don’t think having no holy blood makes you a nobody… but my father was a thief before he joined Lord Sigurd’s army. I heard Lester and Lana’s mother pleaded her eventual husband to let him out of the dungeons. To be honest, I don’t think Nodion would have acknowledge my mother’s marriage to him. To a nobody; to a thief… Dew was his name.”

“I guess both our fathers had no holy blood, huh… But we’re still here; alive. I think your father was probably a great guy. Dew, right? I heard at least a bit about him. Mother talked about everyone she got to meet during her time with Lord Sigurd’s army so I could remember all the great people she fought alongside. I heard even when the fighting came to a peak, he stuck around and refused to go away. I guess everyone wanted him to leave… Mother said everyone was trying to get him out of there because it was so dangerous, but he wouldn’t go. They were worried he just couldn’t handle it. Your mother would stick up for him time and time again, saying he was a man now and he didn’t need to run away, and neither did she. Everyone tried to get them to run to Isaac, but they just refused every time. Mother had no idea though what happened to him in the end… but she says she never found his body before running away to Silesia. It’s possible your father is still alive, you know. We should look for him together someday.”

The story almost shocked the girl, but after a moment of letting it sink in - how brave and relentless, how admirable, her father must have been for being a simple thief, she smiled so truly in that moment that Arthur himself couldn’t help but feel light surprise.

What a beautiful smile… He could only find himself wishing she would smile like that all the time. Such a gorgeous young lady had no reason to feel so down about herself. Her mother and father were no doubt fantastic people… and she was raised by the bravest man of, Arthur counted his blessings to call, in all of Jugdral. She was lucky… and he wasn’t. But they were both here together now, and that was a lucky enough event.

“Nanna… I want you help me practice with a sword. Using magic is great, and it helps avoids close calls from close combat… but if someone does get that close to me, what am I supposed to do? Pray that the heroic and brave Nanna comes rushing in to save poor me? You won’t always be next to me like this to save me, and I think Tinny needs someone to lean on who is just like her… and I think Lord Leaf really is. I’d rather he protect her than me. Teach me the sword. I need to defend myself too. Maybe someday I can defend you too.”

She blinked, but then she smiled genuinely again with a nod. “I’ll teach you the sword, and Tinny how to use staves. Hm… You don’t have a horse though, right? I’ll let you ride me while we’re travelling. We can ride my horse together. Well, rather, we might have to… since my horse is so used to me, she might not budge if someone else tries to ride on her alone.”

“Thanks. Let’s stick together. It’s been so long since I had anyone to rely on but myself. I’m… endlessly grateful to have you here.”  


“Me too. But for now…” She leaned over, kissing the Freege mage’s cheek before standing back up and folding out the creases in her skirt. “I should meet up with the other girls so we can prepare tonight’s dinner. Sit with me at dinner, okay~?”

With that, she hurried along, and Arthur was left to watch her run off in shock. It must have been nice for her too to have more people she could call family.

Oh. Goodness. _Was that fluttering? In his stomach?_

**Author's Note:**

> I've been dying to write something with Fin as Arthur and Tinny's father just because of the endless possibilities of Tiltyu being paired with him and the aftermath of everyone becoming separated. Azel/Tiltyu is my main ship for those two, but I completely adore Fin/Tiltyu and I really wish pairing them at least resulted in Fin getting to talk to Tinny like he can speak to Lakche or Lana if paired with their mothers. Disappointment, disappointment. But that's not stopping me.
> 
> I also really love Arthur/Nanna and Leaf/Tinny, and Leaf/Tinny was coincidentally my very first pairing for those two in my very first file (so long ago now! So many files ago now!!!). Both those pairings happening under the story of Fin being basically Leaf and Nanna's adoptive father and Tinny and Arthur's blood father? Someone get me popcorn.


End file.
